Zora Kurokova
( ) | birthdate = December 13, 1996 | age = 18 | gender = Female | height = 173 cm (5’7) | weight = 61 kg (135 lbs) | hair color = Dark brown | eye color = Umber | sign = | blood type = A- | affiliation = Unknown | previous affiliation = | occupation = Professional | previous occupation = | partner = | previous partner = | base of operations = | education = education | marital status = Single | family = None | status = Alive | spirit weapon = Geisterjäger | signature skill = Spatial awareness and manipulation (including dimensional phasing and supernatural accuracy) }} Zora Kurokova (Зора Kурокова, ゾウラクロカバ, Zōra Kurokaba) is a of Russian descent and a former member of the . While Zora's spiritual abilities as a Quincy were late to emerge and she thus went unnoticed for many years, she is one of the best in the world, and her skills as a marksman are formidable even in battle against supernatural forces, for which she was given the codename "Ghost Sniper" for her unique mode of operation during hits. After her mother was assassinated, supposedly because of her outspoken political views, Zora left Russia in order to break off her ties with the mafia and hone her skills as a Quincy. Appearance In general, Zora’s appearance could be described as “ethnically ambiguous,” as she inherited some of the soft features of her mother’s Chinese ancestry as well as the Middle Eastern and Caucasus elements passed down from her father. As such, it is likely that she most closely resembles someone of West Asian descent. She is tall, with slender limbs and a flat torso. Her shoulders are slightly wider than her hips, and she does not have much definition to her bust. Her nose is defined, with a hard bridge but proportional to her face, and she has a round, smooth forehead, high cheekbones, and a thin mouth that forms a slight V. She has dark, almond-shaped eyes that are dark but not quite black, and her delicately-arched eyebrows rarely convey much emotion. Finally, her complexion, while fair, has olive undertones, and she is careful to not expose herself to too much sun as she wishes to keep her skin tone light to appear more “Russian.” Her makeup seems in contradiction to this, however, as she chooses mascara that emphasizes the darkness of her eyes, and does not try to add any color to her somewhat pale lips. Zora keeps her straight, nearly umber-hued brown hair almost down to her knees, and usually has it loose. Her style of dress is eclectic and can vary depending on the occasion, but typically includes combat boots, a canvas vest, and a midriff-revealing shirt. While she most often chooses neutral colors, such as greens and tans, she will also be seen wearing T-shirts with controversial or offensive themes and logos, such as profanity or the Taliban symbol. That said, Zora carries herself with a casual form of confidence, and can often be seen leaning against walls and doorframes, as though she couldn’t be bothered to stand up properly. Her use of denim and fingerless gloves, as well as her manner of bearing, conveys the sense that she is a rebel or even a delinquent, although this could merely be another expression of her pretentious tendencies. She is, after all, still a teenager. Personality Zora is an extremely independent young woman. However, this does not mean she rebels against any authority at the drop of a hat—although she can be rebellious; it simply means that she works best on her own, undistracted and unburdened by the thoughts and emotions of others. She rarely asks others for advice, is confident in her level of skill, and is able to quickly make decisions on her own. For this reason, she purposefully distances herself from others, as she is either incapable or unwilling to empathize with them. This may actually relate to her psychopathic tendencies, as it is extremely difficult for Zora to identify with and understand the feelings of others. While she has not been officially diagnosed with an antisocial personality disorder, she has a very limited concept of what constitutes right and wrong, and her lack of conscience means she is generally cold and uncaring towards others, as well as dishonest. For example, she is easily able to imitate emotional responses, and can pretend to be interested in others when in reality she is completely disengaged from the conversation at hand. She can even convincingly feign romantic attachment, which actually helped her to survive in the past. Her complete disinterest in the emotions of others is both an advantage and a disadvantage as a contract killer. It allows her to be completely ruthless during a hit, as she will not hesitate to pull the trigger once she has locked on target. However, it also makes it more difficult for her to understand her target or to predict what their next course of action will be. As such, while she is an extremely perceptive individual, constantly gauging her surroundings and particularly aware of details, she can miss important aspects that relate to the emotional inclinations of her victims, and is notably lacking in skill when it comes to making judgments about the future. Otherwise, Zora is extremely precise, with a “measure twice, cut once” mentality. She is also clever and patient, taking the necessary steps to ensure the success of her assignment. Even if those steps take time, she is willing to bide that time and wait for the opportune moment to strike. While Zora is not necessarily arrogant, as she does not over-estimate her own abilities, she “talks big” and makes it seem as though she is more powerful than she really is. This self-inflation may be an attempt to mask her personal weaknesses, but because of her inability to correctly gauge the emotional effect of her actions on others, she does not realize that it merely comes across as sounding pretentious. Nonetheless, Zora is very rarely shaken by the actions or words of others, as she is generally a relaxed, adaptable, and easy-going individual. One exception is sexual harassment, as Zora will respond to uncouth comments about her body or femininity with cold, robotic violence, such as throwing chairs or attempting to shoot the one who breached the apparently sensitive topic. Otherwise, Zora does not lose her composure in stressful situations, although she will typically drop whatever emotional façade she has been maintaining up to that point as she fully commits to dealing with the situation at hand. While most normal individuals would experience a quickening of the pulse or rapid breathing while under duress, Zora has the opposite reaction, becoming notably calm and focused even—or especially—when witnessing violence and bloodshed. History Zora’s parents met under highly unusual circumstances during the Chechen Conflict. Her mother was a Russian journalist and political activist of Chinese descent, and her father was a Chechen separatist, as well as a former Sunni Muslim and Kadyrovtsy soldier. Zora’s mother was in Chechnya to report on the human rights violations occurring in the region during the war, and through an escalating series of events eventually found herself negotiating for the release of several Chechen soldiers who had been taken captive by the Russian Army, even though she was against the separatist’s cause and tactics. Zora’s father was one of these soldiers, and later ended up switching sides to work as an informant and translator for the Russians. He was also the only one to thank Zora’s mother for securing his freedom, and he later became one of her main sources of information on the ongoing conflict in Chechen. Their relationship gradually became something more than strictly professional, and she was devastated when she heard the news that he had been severely wounded while attempting to rescue children from a school building that had been bombed by Chechen terrorists. When he was discharged from service, they moved to Krasnodar so she could continue reporting on the conflict while he recovered from his injuries. Zora was born about a year later. She soon became the object of her father’s devotion, while her mother was more focused on her professional career and spent less time with her daughter. Unfortunately, the cards were stacked against her father. The explosion had left him scarred, crippled, and deaf in one ear, while the repercussions of his crisis of faith, which had caused him to abandon his religion and political alignment, only exacerbated his PTSD. He frequently fell into bouts of depression and drinking. Nonetheless, he tried to do his best for his daughter and doted upon her, and was able to put aside his self-destructive tendencies for her sake. As such, Zora has only positive memories of her father. As a young girl, Zora suffered from the “nightmares” she had of skull-masked monsters that she sometimes saw roaming the streets. Her father realized that these were actually the same spirits he saw, as he was also spiritually aware. He decided to teach her everything he knew as a Quincy—which wasn’t much, mainly just how to “sense things,” draw in reishi to empower herself physically, and hide her reiatsu to remain undetected from the Hollows. He also enrolled her in a martial arts school where she learned Sambo and later Systema. At the school, Zora was completely surrounded by adult men, as she was not surprisingly the only child student and also the only girl. But she never felt uncomfortable, as her father was always there to watch her. She wanted to impress him, and dedicated herself to her training, thereby improving rapidly. Zora actually proved herself to be a prodigy at fighting, and was soon capable of taking down opponents twice her size. Her mother didn’t approve of her training, not because she thought it was unseemly for a girl to fight (her mother was a staunch feminist), but because she was unsure of her father’s intentions and worried that martial arts were contributing to the ruthless, competitive nature she saw developing in her daughter. But it went much further than Zora’s mother had realized, as her father had also taught her how to use firearms during the hunting trips when she would accompany him up north, although they never really did much hunting—mainly just practicing. Too young to technically operate a gun legally, Zora nonetheless had a steady hand and perfect aim. Soon, Zora began experimenting with the spiritual energy she had learned to absorb from the atmosphere, and was finally able to manifest an imperfect spirit weapon. Unbeknownst to her, her growing powers had demonstrated to her father that she would be able to protect herself without him. In reality, Zora's father had become involved with the Chechen mafia, as his past as a separatist had caught up to him. In an attempt to protect his family from becoming involved, especially because of the nature of his wife's work, he decided it would be better for him to leave. While her mother understood, Zora was only ten at the time, it seemed to her as though he had completely abandoned them for no reason. She never truly got over it, and eventually came to blame her mother. In an attempt to make a fresh start, Zora’s mother moved them to Moscow. There the rift in their relationship deepened, and Zora became highly independent. She continued with her martial arts training, started hunting Hollows, and picked street fights with teenage delinquents in order to test out the new spiritual skills she was developing against more human opponents. Eventually, she drew the notice of some of the other Quincy living in Moscow—Quincy who happened to be associated with one of the Russian mafia. One day, a representative from the Chechen mafia approached Zora and told her that they had known her father, as “Chechen blood ran deep.” He told her that the Quincy had been watching her, and asked if she would like for them to "help her along." Sensing that she didn’t have much choice in the matter, Zora agreed to join them. Little by little, the Chechen Quincy groomed her for an assassin's job. In fact, the Chechen Quincy had taken an interest in her because first, there weren't many of them, and secondly they wanted to gather their numbers in case they ran afoul of another spiritual force. They knew they could ensure Zora's loyalty by supplying her with ammunition and protection from the authorities, and if that failed they would use her mother as leverage, and so decided to take the risks in training a kid–albeit a spiritually-aware kid with supernatural accuracy who would be worth the risk to the organization to train. They started by giving her a handgun, then by allowing her to use one of their practice ranges. Finally, she was handed a rifle and given her first assignment. Zora did not hesitate when it came time to pull the trigger. She proved to be an excellent marksman and an even better killer, all while maintaining the façade of a normal high school student. Her occasional hits were flawless and of professional quality, as she had developed the ability to phase through the physical body of a target to only effect the soul, and the forensic detectives were baffled as to how a bullet could end up inside someone’s brain without that someone having been actually shot. Soon the Solntsevskaya Bratva began to fear her, and she became known as the “Ghost Sniper” for the fact that her victims were left without a mark. But as she grew older, Zora began to wise up and began to realize the value of her skills. She began taking jobs for other interested parties to earn money on the side—powerful politicians who wanted rivals removed, and even rival gangs such as the Solntsevskaya Bratva. While she was careful and played her cards well, the Chechen mafia eventually found out and decided to “teach her a lesson” by taking out her only blood relative. On her seventeenth birthday, Zora returned home and found that her mother had been shot in their apartment. The authorities closed the case quickly, suspecting the murder to have been political in nature due to her mother’s recently outspoken criticisms of the government, but to Zora the calling card was obvious. While she had not been particularly close with her mother, the senselessness of her death and the fact that she had been uninvolved and unaware of her daughter’s activities angered Zora. However, she knew that whatever immunity she had been granted within the gang was at that point moot, and also knew that if she hoped to learn anything more about her father from the gang in the future she would have to leave those she suspected to be behind her mother’s death alive. Taking advantage of the freedom she had from any parental authority, and hoping to escape the reach of the Chechen mafia, Zora left Moscow. Traveling south, she met a Turkish Quincy who agreed to train her, and spent a year in the deserts of Kazakhstan where she slowly began to realize her powers. She also came to terms with her mother’s death and who she had become within the last five years. The loss of her mother made her father’s absence feel even more poignant, and she at last renewed her resolve to find him, even if it meant she would carve a path of blood in the process. Plot Equipment Powers and Abilities : When released, Zora’s reiatsu takes on a violet hue, which seems to indicate the tainted nature of the light blue spiritual pressure of a Quincy mixed with the ultraviolet wavelength of the invisible light spectrum. Her spiritual pressure is not immediately perceptible, but it does feel “dangerous,” cold or even cruel, and unrefined. As such, it is rather impersonal, as one does not gain a sense of her emotions or state of mind. It is more like the sensation of confronting a natural predator or a dangerous force of nature. Unfortunately, this raw sense of killing intent can at times alert her target that they are being watched, as they will sense the dangerous nature of her reiatsu and become wary and alert. Spirit Weapon Geisterjäger (追跡の幽霊 (ガイスタイェエガー), Gaisutai-egā; German for "ghost hunter," Japanese for "Tracing Ghost"): Zora’s weapon is unique in that it combines both physical and spiritual elements. The base of the weapon is a customized Dragunov high-powered semi-automatic rifle with a folding stock, also known as an SVDS. The spiritual component manifests itself as a violet, translucent web of reishi that traces over the scope and barrel of the gun, forming a construct that resembles the feed lines and antenna of a satellite dish, as though amplifying her shots. When preparing to fire, the reishi lines begin to pulse with a concentrated light that is in-sync with the rhythm of her own heartbeat. There is also a faint, nearly-static feedback, which sounds like the hum of a Seele Schneider. The effective firing range of an SVDS is normally close to a thousand meters, but when combined with her spiritual powers she can increase the distance of her shots to nearly four kilometers. However, since it is obviously impractical for her to carry her sniper rifle with her wherever she goes, when not using her signature weapon she will simply extend her palm towards whatever she is aiming at and manifest a smaller version of the reishi construct around her arm—a finger gun of sorts. She can fire concentrated, short, Heilig Pfiel in this way, although these projectiles are significantly weaker than when using her full spirit weapon. Schrift: S, the Specter: Zora chose the name of her Schrift after she was dubbed the “Ghost Sniper” for her unusual mode of operation during hits. Her power allows her to phase through physical objects, although at present this ability is limited to the Heilig Pfiel she fires from her spirit weapon. By using her Schrift, Zora can bypass any physical or spiritual obstruction that stands between her and a target, meaning that she can shoot through walls, for example, without leaving a trace of the bullet, which is a highly useful skill for a sniper. This means that she also has a heightened sense of spatial perception, as she is able to perceive the distance, dimension, and volume or mass of a targeted object, allowing her to scope out objects that would otherwise be invisible to the naked eye. In reality, the Specter seems to be a form of spatial manipulation that allows her to bypass the physical dimension, although since she does not yet understand the nature of her power, she is limited to a basic application of her Schrift. Quotes Trivia *Zora's last name, Kurokov, was meant to be "Kurkov," which is a common Russian surname, but it was misspelled on the orphanage registry and became "Kurokov," which ironically means "trigger."